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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chest · march · chair · squash · race · stem · bat · craft

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. squash — to crush
  3. craft — a skill
  4. march — the month
  5. squash — the sport
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — a box
  8. bat — the animal
  9. stem — to come from
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. chair — a leader
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. march — the month
  15. race — humankind
  16. chest — of your body
  17. craft — boats
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. race — the arms race
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. march — music
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. race — a contest

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com